Multiple key retainer



May 12, 1964 H. .1. BEILIS MULTIPLE KEY RETAINER Filed April 24, 1963 INVENTOR. Haesser d. 551a s Z LAQQZAL y United States Patent C) 3,132,504 MULTIPLE KEY RETAINER Herbert J. Beilis, 35-45 81st St., Jackson Heights, N.Y. Filed Apr. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 275,392 11 Claims. (Cl. 70-456) This invention relates to a multiple key retainer, such for example, as customarily is incorporated in a case of leather, plastic, cloth or the like. The key retainer is of the type in which a plurality of headed key loops are separately and releasably captively held in a manner such as to permit individual swivelling movement thereof.

Various key retainers of this type have been proposed in the past, but they invariably have been made of plural separate parts which necessitated handling and assembly and which required the use of different grades and kinds of materials.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a novel multiple key retainer of the character described the various parts of which, although operable for different purposes, are unitary with one another. At first blush such a construction might seem to be impossible of attainment inasmuch as most key retainers include at least one part which is resilient for latching operation, and actually in the specific embodiment of my invention hereinafter to be described such incongruity is heightened inasmuch as one major part must be of springy material while the remaining parts are and must be rigid. However, as will be seen from the detailed description which follows, I have successfully overcome this difliculty by making the entire key retainer from spring stock of such character that it is capable of assuming two conditions in one of which it is workable and non-springy and in the other of which it cannot be worked as ordinary sheet material, but is springy and, furthermore by so interconnecting the parts that all but one part is rigidly held to the other parts and the one part is cantilever supported so that it is free to hex.

It is an ancillary object of my invention to provide a multiple key retainer of the character described the construction of which is such that the key retainer may be formed from sheet material while the latter is in a soft (annealed) state, i.e. one wherein it can be deformed to a different shape which it will maintain, and which thereafter is capable of being heat treated to render the same springy while still maintaining the shape that has been imparted to it for satisfactory operation of the retainer.

It is another object of my invention to provide a multiple key retainer of the character described in which the construction is such that the shaped retainer can be hardened and tempered in its entirety without noticeable distortion.

It is another object of my invention to provide a multiple key retainer of the character described in which because the same consists of but a single piece it is not necessary to handle and assemble separate parts during manufacture thereof.

It hitherto has been proposed to provide a multiple key retainer in which a single flat latch spring cooperated with several headed key loops to hold the same in the retainer in a fashion such that the key loops only could be removed deliberately as a result of certain manipulations. In this previous key retainer a flat cantilever supported latch spring blocked egress of a number of headed key loops from the large ends of afliliated keyhole slots. However, it has been observed that such arrangement was not completely satisfactory because when any particular headed key loop was pressed against the fiat latch spring during the step of engaging the loop with or disengaging the loop from its affiliated keyhole slot, the spring would deflect over a span which embraced more than the single keyhole slot affiliated with the loop which was being manipulated, so that, upon occasion, a loop other than the one that was being manipulated would become accidentally disengaged from its keyhole slot. Attempts were made to overcome this difiiculty by forming in the flat spring between some of the keyhole slots cuts that ran parallel to the slots. However this has not appreciably overcome the difficulty since the spine of the spring (below the bottoms of the parallel cuts) twisted enough to cause deflection of adjoining portions of the spring when any single portion was deflected upon removal or insertion of a key loop.

It is another object of my present invention to provide a construction which avoids the foregoing drawback.

More particularly, it is another object of my invention to provide a multiple key retainer wherein each of plural unitarily joined angularly fanned out coplanar fiat latching arms of a single cantilever leaf spring is individually associated with a different keyhole slot and is joined to adjacent arms by a narrow spine remote from the keyhole slots so that each arm is rendered substantially independent of adjacent arms and deflection of any given arm for insertion or removal of a headed loop will have no appreciable affect on adjacent arms.

It is another object of my invention to provide a multiple key retainer having all the foregoing advantages and which yet is compact, trim and attractive, is capable of being made inexpensively and quickly and, withal, is durable and foolproof in use.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the multiple key retainers hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown vairons possible embodiments of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a finished multiple key retainer constructed in accordance with my instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the flat shaped blank from which said key retainer is formed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating the key retainer at an intermediate stage of its manufacture;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the key retainer at one of the keyhole slots and showing the head of a key loop captively latched in the retainer with the shank of the loop free to swivel and ride in the narrow section of the keyhole slot;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the head of the key loop aligned with the broad section of the keyhole slot and depressing the afiiliated fiat arm of the latch spring during either the coupling of the key loop to or the uncoupling of the key loop from the retainer;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-43 of FIG. 1, and showing one of the ears that is used for anchoring the apron to the body of the retainer in spaced relationship thereto prior to hardening and tempering;

FIG. 7 is a rear view to a reduced scale of the key retainer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a fragment of a multiple key retainer embodying a modified form of my invention in which the latch spring arm is formed from the material of the retainer body instead of as an extension of the apron, as in the form of my invention illustrated in FIGS. l7; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

My invention is incorporated in a multiple key retainer having a body and an apron unitarily joined to one another at the top of the retainer in a conventional manner by an elongated transverse split tube in which are formed parallel narrow sections of plural keyhole slots the broad sections of which are located in the adjacent segment of the apron. In general, I carry out my invention by forming the latch spring which previously was a separate part, in one piece with said retainer and by making the entire retainer from sheet metal which has an annealed, i.e., soft, state in which it is capable of being severely worked, e.g., sharply bent through 90, without breaking and without springing back to its original shape, and a tempered, i.e., springy, state in which the sheet metal can be flexed readily and upon release of pressure will spring back to its formed shape.

Moreover, the basic parts of the retainer, i.e., the body, the apron and the elongated top tube, are formed in their annealed state into a hollow box-like rigid structure, that is to say, a structure wherein the body and the apron are coextensive over a broad area, at least three sides of the peripheral zone over which the walls of the body and the apron are coextensive being held apart by narrow flanges that are integral with one of said walls and butt against the other of said walls. Said walls and flanges are locked in this arrangement while the key retainer still is in its annealed state, so that when the retainer is hardened and tempered to make all of its parts springy, i.e., highly resilient, the retainer will not noticeably warp, skew or otherwise deform from the hollow box-like rigid structure into which it was bent when soft, nor will the parts of said structure, although now springy, be able to experience relative flexion to any noticeable degree since they mutually reinforce one another against such movement. Thereby, I successfully avoid the making and assembly of plural parts during manufacture and thus enable the retainer to be fabricated by mass production equipment without the necessity of manual assembly.

Preferably, at least one of the broad area parts of the rigid box-like structure, that is to say, the body or the apron, is provided with one or more reinforcing ribs to increase the resistance of the structure to deformation during heat treatment. Desirably, said ribs are included at least in the body since this is the larger of the two parts and therefore the projecting portion thereof would otherwise have to rely solely upon the rigid hollow boxlike structure to inhibit deformation during heat treatment. It therefore is additionally desirable to provide at least one such rib on said projecting portion of the body.

It should be mentioned that the latch spring which is formed in one piece with the key retainer may be unitarily carried by either the body or the apron and in the subsequent detailed description of my invention I shall show two embodiments which differ from one another in the foregoing respect.

As indicated previously, an ancillary feature of my invention is achieved by separating a flat latch spring into a plurality of individual resilient latch arms which fan away from one another, so that the spine which interconnects the arms is comparatively short and the arms can be made longer than if the arms were parallel. This arrangement has the advantage that deflection of any one latch arm does not cause a marked deflection of adjacent latch arms. Alternatively, this problem of having deflection of any given latch arm result in an appreciable deflection of adjacent latch arms is avoided in another form of my invention by forming the latch arms from one of the immobile elements of the rigid box-like structure, preferably the body, whereby a portion of such immobile element is interposed between adjacent latch arms. Due to such interposition deflection of any single latch arm will be limited to movement relative to the rigid box-like structure and such movement will not be transmitted to adjacent latch arms.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. l7, the reference numeral 10 denotes a key retainer constructed in accordance with my invention. Said retainer constitutes a body 12 in the form of a generally flat plane wall and an apron 14 which constitutes a flat plane wall. The body is connected to the apron by a transversely disposed elongated split tube 16 at the top of the retainer. One longitudinal edge of the tube is integral with the top edge of the body 12 and the other longitudinal edge of the tube is integral with the top edge of the apron.

Any suitable plan configuration may be employed for the body depending upon the desired visual effect to be secured. As illustrated, the body has substantially the form of a rectangle with the lower edge thereof in the shape of a very broad V. The apron 14 likewise may have any desired plan configuration and, as illustrated, is in the shape of a truncated V, the truncated side being lowermost. Thereby, the side walls of the apron converge towards one another and expose portions of the side margins of the body 12. The bottom edge of the apron is disposed above the bottom edge of the body to expose a broad portion of the bottom margin of the body.

The side edges of the apron are provided with side flanges 18 and the bottom edge of the apron is provided with a bottom flange 20.

The entire key retainer, inclusive of the body, the apron, the elongated split top tube, and the side and bottom flanges of the apron, are fabricated from a single piece of sheet metal. As indicated previously, the metal is one which has a soft state and a springy state, the key retainer being formed while the metal is in its soft state and after formation being transformed by heat treatment into the springy state. A suitable metal is a high carbon sheet steel, e.g., an SAE 1050 to 1095. The sheet steel initially is obtained in annealed, i.e., soft, state and is blanked and shaped from ribbon stock while in that state. After formation, which will be described in detail below, the now finished shaped key retainer is subjected to heat treatment which also will be detailed hereinafter.

The key retainer is made from a configured metal blank 22 such as illustrated in FIG. 2. The blank includes a body portion 12a, an apron portion 14a, a tube portion 15a, side flange portions 18a, and a bottom flange portion 20a. Obviously, the split tube portion 16a is located between the body portion 12a and the apron portion 14a.

The blank 22 is transformed into the finished shape of the key retainer by suitable metal forming operations,

e.g., by bending and braking, an intermediate stage being shown in FIG. 3. In its finished form the bottom and side flanges i8, 26 are bent down to a position approximately perpendicular to the apron and the apron is brought from the position shown in FIG. 3 into spaced parallel relationship to the body, being held therefrom by the flanges. Said flanges which are integral with the apron have their free edges butting against the front face of the body.

In the forming operations the tube 16 has any desired cross-sectional shape imparted to it. In the preferred form of the invention the diameter of the tube exceeds the space between the apron and the body and the tube has one longitudinal edge thereof constituting a tangential extension of the plane of the body. The other edge of the split tube is at anangle of approximately 120 to the plane of the apron. Thus, the tube has a portion protruding forwardly from the apron at the top of the key retainer and the tube serves to unitarily join the body to the apron.

The key retainer is provided with a plurality of the usual keyhole slots 24. These slots preferably are provided While the key retainer still is in the form of the metal blank 22 and said slots are indicated by the reference numeral 24a in FIG. 2. Each slot includes a narrow section and a broad section, the narrow section desirably being defined by parallel side walls and the broad section optionally being of circular shape as is quite clear from inspection of FIG. 2. For the sake of appearance and symmetry the narrow sections of the keyhole slots are uniformly spaced apart from one another and are arranged in parallel relationship. Furthermore, they are transversely registered.

The keyhole slots are so placed on the blank 22 that when the blank is transformed into its finished shape the narrow sections of the keyhole slots are located within the split tube 24 and the broad sections of the keyhole slots are located in the apron adjacent the upper edge thereof. If desired, the narrow sections of the keyhole slots may extend part way into the apron 14. However, it is not desired to have the broad sections of the keyhole slots extend into the split tube. It should be mentioned, nevertheless, that my invention will perform satisfactorily if the broad sections of the keyhole slots do extend partway into the split tube providing that the portion of each broad section which is of maximum diameter is ofiset downwardly from the top edge of the apron. The reason for this will become apparent as the description proceeds. Thus, the split tube includes a plurality of parallel circumferentially extending narrow slots which constitute the narrow sections of the keyhole slots and these circumferentially extending slots run into enlarged openings adjacent the top edge of the apron which openings constitute the broad sections of the keyhole slots.

The apron is firmly secured (anchored) to the body at plural widely spaced points in some suitable manner prior to hardening and tempering of the key retainer, so that the apron, body, flanges and tube at this time conjointly define a rigid box-like structure. As shown herein, the anchoring means constitutes an ear 26 (denoted by the reference numeral26a on the blank of FIG. 2) integral with and extending away from the center of the long free edge of each of the side flanges 18. The body 12 is provided with two openings 28 (denoted by the referencenumerals 28a in FIG. 2) which are positioned to admit the cars 26 when the blank is shaped into the form of the finished key retainer. which extend through the openings 28 may be peened or they may be bent to seat in indentations 30 (see FIG. 6)

formed on the back face of the body. In either event once the ears have been passed through the openings and immovably locked to the body the rigid box-like struc ture is formed which will strongly resist deformation that would otherwise take place during hardening and tempering heat treatment.

It will be observed that portions of thebody protrude beyond (to the sides of and below) the aforesaid boxlike structure inasmuch as the only part of the body incorporated in the box-like structure is the part which is coextensive with the apron 14. However, I have observed that the rigidity of said box-like structure substan- The tips of the cars tially prevents deformation of the protruding portions of the body during the aforesaid heat treatment.

I find it helpful in order to aid in resisting such deformation to include in the body a set of, e.g., three, ribs 32 generally parallel to one another and to the top and bottom edges of the body. These ribs are raised from the material of the body itself so that they project forwardly and there are corresponding grooves on the back surface of the body. For the sake of appearance the lowermost rib 32 which is the only rib that is exposed, the other ribs being concealed in back of the apron 14, is configured to the shape of a broad V parallel to the bottom edge of the body.

The key retainer is designed to receive a plurality of key loops 64 of standard construction. Each such loop terminates in a shank 36 having an enlarged head 38. Said head may be of disc-like configuration or, as illustrated herein, in the form of a bead, e.g. a sphere. The shank 36 has a diameter less than the width of the narrow section of a keyhole slot. The head 38 has a major diameter greater than the width of the narrow section of a keyhole slot and less than the width of the broad section of a keyhole slot. Thus, the head can he slipped through the broad section of the keyhole slot located in the apron and then the shank can be introduced into the narrow section of said slot.

To prevent the key loop from accidentally leaving the keyhole slot into which its head has been inserted and in which its shank is free to slide and turn, the key retainer includes a latch spring the formation of which is one of the principal objects of my present invention. This latch spring is self-biassed into a position in which it blocks from behind the broad sections of the different keyhole slots so as to prevent accidental withdrawal of the head of a key loop therefrom. However, the latch spring can bedepressed purposefully when it is desired to couple or uncouple a key loop to or from the key retainer.

As has been mentioned heretofore, it is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide such a latch spring in one piece with the key retainer. To this end, in the form of my invention now being described, the latch spring constitutes a plane plate 40 (denoted by the reference numeral 40a in FIG. 2.) which is in one piece with the other parts of the key retainer and specifically is a cantiliver extension of the apron. More particularly, the latch plate 40' is a cantilever extension of the bottom flange 20 of the apron. Said plate is bent up from the bottom flange so that its upper marginal portion presses against the back face of the upper marginal portion of the apron 14, whereby it is biased to a position in which it blocks the broad sections of the keyhole slots. The plate 40 is bent to this position while the material of the key retainer is in its annealed (soft) state. Thereafter, when the key retainer is hardened and tempered the plate becomes springy so that when the edge remote from the cantilever support is depressed for coupling or uncoupling of a key loop said edge subsequently will, upon release, spring back to its blocking position.

The blocking position of the latch plate 40 is shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5 I have shown the head of a key loop pressed against the upper marginal portion of the plate during the process either of coupling or uncoupling the key loop. From this figure it will be apparent how the latch plate can be forced back to open a passageway through which the head can pass into or out of the broad section of the keyhole slot. This particular operation of the latch plate is not novel per se, but, as is readily apparent from inspection of the sundry figures, and more particularly FIGS. 2-5, the latch plate is in one piece with the apron, its base constituting a unitary extension thereof and its remaining edges being free, so that during the process of fabricating the key retainer this plate does not have to be handled and assembled as a separate piece. Furthermore, because of the rigid box-like structure hereinabove described, during the hardening and tempering step which makes the cantilever supported latch plate springy the key retainer itself will retain its desired form which was imparted to it while the material of said key retainer was soft.

The heat treatment for hardening and tempering is standard for a high carbon steel. By way of example, a typical heat treatment constitutes raising the temperature of the formed key retainer with its rigid box-like construction and its unitary plate latch spring to about 1460 to 1500 F. in a furnace, preferably one with a nonoxidizing atmosphere. Then the heated retainer is quenched in oil to harden the same. Next for tempering the retainer is placed in a furnace having a circulating non-oxidizing atmosphere and is kept there at a temperature of from about 500 to 625 F. for about /2 to of an hour. Finally, the key retainer is permitted to cool off in the air. Said key retainers will be found to have a Rockwell C hardness of about 47 to 51.

To provide an attractive outward appearance, the key retainer then is cleaned as by the use of an acid rinse and is plated, for instance, with a nickel or copper base plating and a nickel or brass over-plate. Finally, the finished retainer is lacquered to preserve its luster.

'It will be observed that the plane plate 40 which constitutes the latch spring has a peripheral configuration which approximately matches but is slightly smaller than that of the apron 14 and that the upper edge of said plate extends part way into the interior of the split tube in order to ensure blocking of the various broad sections of the keyhole slots. This extending edge of the latch plate is provided to enable the head of a key loop to be pressed against the plate when said head is located within the tube and it is desired to uncouple the key loop from the key retainer.

Pursuant to an ancilliary feature of my invention the latch plate 40 is subdivided in a special manner into a series of individual lato'h spring arms, a different arm being associated with each of the different keyhole slots so as to lie in back of the broad section thereof. Said subdivision is effected by forming the plate 44 with a plurality of narrow slots 42 (denoted by the reference numeral 42a in FIG. 2) which desirably are formed in the metal blank 22. These slots separate the flat plate into individual flat latch spring arms 44 (denoted by the reference numeral 44a in FIG. 2).

The simple provision of the slots 42 would not by itself create the desired separation between the different arms 44 because if the slots are comparatively short the deflection of a then consequently short arm will create so much stress in the plate 4-5) that it also will noticeably defiect adjacent arms 44. Because of this slaving deflection of an arm which it is not desired to flex, it is possible accidentally to release a key loop next to the one which is deliberately being coupled to or uncoupled from the key retainer. I have found that this can be prevented by making the slots 42 longer. However, if the slots were made parallel to the side edges of the body, their length necessarily would be limited because of the tapered shape of the plate 45 To overcome this the slots 42 are formed with such a relative angular relationship that they converge toward the narrow base of the plate 40, i.e., toward the bottom flange 20. v

In addition to the advantage of making the individual latch arms 44 long enough to enable them to flex to the degree desired without tending to substantially deflect an adjoining arm, such angular relationship of the slots has the further advantage that the section or spine of the flat plate 4 3 where the bases of the arms are joined becomes quite narrow and there therefore does not have the same tendency to transmit deflecting stresses. I have observed. that when a key loop head depresses any individual flat spring latch arm to a degree sufficient to enable the head to enter or leave the associated enlarged portion of the keyhole slot, the adjacent arms barely stir and remain very close to the back surface of the apron so as to maintain their blocking function. 'I believe that this effect is due principally to the flaring relationship, i.e. fan-like pattern, of the arms and to a lesser degree to the narrow width of the spine which interconnects the bases of said arms.

Attention also is called to the fact that the uppermost of the ribs 32 is located near but in back of the tips of the several flat latch spring arms. This positioning is deliberate and is provided in order to limit the backward deflection of the spring arms. The rib is of such a height as to permit the spring arm to be flexed rearwardly an amount sutficient to allow a key loop head to pass through the enlarged portion of the keyhole slot, but not to allow any substantially greater amount of deflection. In a typical form of key retainer embodying my invention the rib is about of an inch in back of the position occupied by the flat latch spring arms when they are deflected sufficiently to allow the heads to enter or leave the enlarged portion of any keyhole slot.

I wish to mention at this point that although I have illustrated the apron as being parallel to the body, this is not critical to my invention. It will suflice simply to have the apron spaced from the body and held in spaced relationship therefrom by peripheral flanges extending along at least three of its edges which flanges are butted against the front face of the body and to have the apron rigidly secured to the body, so that along with the flanges and split top tube the various components form a hollow, i.e., box-like, rigid structure. It is such spacing of the apron from the body and the firm interlocking of the parts, as by means of the ears 26 and openings 28, that make the structure rigid and thereby able to resist the deforming stresses of heat treatment. However, the flat plate 40, although extending away from a part of the rigid structure is not itself rigidly held but rather is supported by its base in cantilever fashion with its remaining edges free in order to permit it to flex in the normal operation of the key retainer.

The key retainer is secured to any kind of carrying structure, e.g., to a foldable case which may be made, for instance, of leather, plastic or cloth, and to facilitate connection to this structure the key retainer is provided with openings 46 (denoted by the reference numeral 46a in FIG. 2) through which fastening means such as rivets or eyelets are passed which said rivets or eyelets are anchored to the case.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 I have illustrated a key retainer 50 embodying a modified form of my invention. Said key retainer is identical to the key retainer 10 except for the latch spring and therefore in these figures I have shown only that portion of the key retainer 50 which includes a latch spring 52. All of the other parts of the key retainer 50 have been denoted by the same reference numerals as those employed in conjunction with the description of the key retainer 19, save that a distinguishing prime mark has been added thereto.

Thus, the key retainer 50 includes a body 12' and an apron M, the lower edge of the apron having a bottom flange 2 which extends integrally away from the apron and butts up against the front face of thebody 12. The upper edges of the body and apron are joined by a split tube 16 having formed therein the narrow sections of keyhole slots 24', the broad sections of which are located in the upper marginal region of the apron 14'. The apron i4 is securely locked to the body 12 at spaced points, e.g., through the use of ears and openings such as were described in detail with respect to the key retainer 10, so that the body 12', apron 14' and split tube 16' conjointly define a hollow box-like rigid structure.

All of the component parts of said key retainer are made from a single piece of sheet metal which is shaped into the finished configuration while annealed and which is thereafter heat treated to harden the same and render the material springy, although, of course, because the boxlike structure is rigid, all of the parts thereof which are joined together are immobile (unable to flex to any noticeable degree).

It willbe recalled that in the key retainer the latch spring 40 is a flat plate which is cantilever supported at its narrow end from the bottom flange of the apron, the sides of said latch spring and the tip being free so as to permit the spring to flex. Thus, said latch spring 40 is in effect an integral extension of the apron. The key retainer 50 differs from the key retainer 10 in that its latch spring 52 is formed unitarily with the body 12 instead of with the apron. Moreover, whereas in the key retainer 10 the fanned out individual flat spring latch arms 44 are joined to one another at a spine adjacent the flange 20, in the key retainer 50 each of the latch springs 52 is separate from adjacent latch springs and is connected thereto by an intervening part of the immobile body 12', immobile because the body 12' is part of a hollow boxlike rigid structure and, therefore, is not free to flex easily.

Each latch spring 52 of the retainer 50 constitutes a tongue 54 which is struck out from the material of the body 12'. The base of the tongue may be either above or below the broad section of the aifiliated keyhole slot 24, and, as illustrated, is located above the same so that the tongue extends downwardly from the body. The base of the tongue is offset laterally from said afliliated keyhole slot to increase the separation between the openings in the body and the slots in the split tube. The sides and tip of said tongue are free of the body so that the tongue, and therefore the spring latch as a whole, is cantilever supported from the base 12. The tongue extends forwardly from the apron and is directed toward theback face of the apron in the region in which the broad section of the associated keyhole slot is disposed. Said tongue is so shaped that the tip thereof presses lightly against the back face of the apron. Moreover, the tip is in the shape of an enlarged head 56 which covers and blocks the back side of the broad section of the associated keyhole slot, wherebyto prevent the head of a key loop from accidentally being threaded through said broad section. However, the head 56 can be depressed deliberately when it is desired to either couple or uncouple a headed key loop to or from the key retainer 50.

It will be appreciated that the number of spring latches 52 equals the number of keyhole slots and that a different spring latch is associated wtih each individual keyhole slot.

It thus will be seen that I have provided key retainers which achieve the several objects of my invention and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above intention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A key retainer comprising a single piece of heathardened springy sheet metal and which retainer has been formed from said piece while the piece is in a soft state and subsequently has been hardened, said single piece of sheet metal being formed to include a body, a

split tube and an apron mutually defining a hollow box-.

like rigid structure, said split tube being adapted to have the head of a key loop located therein, said body and said apron being coextensive over a broad area, at least three sides of the peripheral zone over which the walls of the body and apron are coextensive being held apart by narrow flanges that are integral with one wall and that butt against the other wall, plural spaced means locking said walls and flanges together in said hollow box-like rigid structure, said split tube having a narrow circumferential slot that runs into a large opening in the adjacent portion of the apron and forms therewith a keyhole slot for 10 the passage of the head of a key loop, and a latch spring formed in one piece with the rigid structure and cantilever supported therefrom with the edge thereof remote from its cantilever support located in the interior of said structure, said remote edge being biased by said latch spring against the inner surface of the apron and being located at said large opening so as to resiliently block the same against the ingress or egress of the head of a key loop.

2. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the latch spring is cantilever supported from the apron.

3. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one flange is unitary with the apron and wherein the latch spring is cantilever supported from said flange.

4. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein plural keyhole slots such as described in claim 1 are provided in the split tube and apron and wherein the cantilever supported spring blocks all the large openings of said slots.

5. A key retainer as set forth in claim 4 wherein the latch spring constitutes a single plate sub-divided by slots into a plurality of flat spring latch arms, each arm being associated with a diiferent large opening and said arms being arranged in a fanned out pattern.

6. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the latch spring is cantilever supported from the body.

7. A key retainer as set forth in claim 6 wherein plural keyhole slots such as described in claim 1 are provided in the split tube and apron and wherein a dilferent latch spring is associated with each opening, all of said latch springs being separate from one another and being cantilever supported from the body.

8. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 in which the body includes a rib located in back of the remote edge of the latch spring and serving to reinforce the body and to limit movement of the latch spring away from the large opening when the head of a key loop is pressed against said remote edge.

9. A key retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the apron is in the shape of a truncated triangle with its base at the split tube, wherein the flanges are integral with the apron and unitarily extend toward the body from the truncated side of the apron and from the two adjacent sides, wherein plural keyhole slots such as described in claim 1 are provided in the split tube and apron, and wherein the latch spring is a flat plate extending from the flange on the truncated side of the apron, said flat plate extending from said flange toward the split tube and the edge of the flat plate remote from said flange pressing against the interior surface of the apron, said flat plate being subdivided into plural individual flat spring latch arms arranged in a fanned out pattern with the tip of each arm located at the large opening of the associated keyhole slot.

10. A key retainer comprising a body, a split tube and an apron mutually forming a hollow box-like rigid structure, said split tube being adapted to have the heads of key loops located therein, said body and said apron being coextensive over a broad area, at least three sides of the peripheral zone over which the walls of the body and apron are coextensive being held apart by narrow flanges that are integral with one wall and butt against the other wall, means locking said walls and flanges together in said hollow box-like rigid structure, said split tube having narrow circumferential slots each of which runs into a different larger opening in the adjacent portion of the apron and forms therewith a different keyhole slot for the reception of a headed key loop, and a latch spring cantilever supported by said structure in a region remote from the large openings, said latch spring comprising a narrow base at which it is cantilever supported from the structure and a remote edge, said latch spring flaring from said base to said remote edge and being sub-divided into individual fiat spring latch arms, each associated with a different keyhole slot, said arms being arranged in a fanned out pattern.

1 1. A method of making a key retainer comprising forming from a single piece of heat-hardenable sheet meta1 while said metal is in a soft state a body, a split tube and an apron into a hollow box-like rigid structure with the body and apron coextensive over a broad area and with at least three sides of the peripheral zone over which the walis of the body and apron are coextensive held apart by narrow flanges that are integral with one wall and butt against the other wall, locking together said walls and flanges at plural spaced region's, forming keyhole slots in said key retainer including narrow sections disposed circumferentially of the split tube and broad sections in the adjacent portion of the apron, and furthermore forming said piece of sheet metal to include a'latch spring in one piece with the rigid structure and cantilever supported thereby with the edge thereof remote from its support located in the interior of said structure and pressed lightly against the inner surface of the apron in the region of said broad sections so as to resiliently block the same and thereafter heat-hardening said key retainer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

10. A KEY RETAINER COMPRISING A BODY, A SPLIT TUBE AND AN APRON MUTUALLY FORMING A HOLLOW BOX-LIKE RIGID STRUCTURE, SAID SPLIT TUBE BEING ADAPTED TO HAVE THE HEADS OF KEY LOOPS LOCATED THEREIN, SAID BODY AND SAID APRON BEING COEXTENSIVE OVER A BROAD AREA, AT LEAST THREE SIDES OF THE PERIPHERAL ZONE OVER WHICH THE WALLS OF THE BODY AND APRON ARE COEXTENSIVE BEING HELD APART BY NARROW FLANGES THAT ARE INTEGRAL WITH ONE WALL AND BUTT AGAINST THE OTHER WALL, MEANS LOCKING SAID WALLS AND FLANGES TOGETHER IN SAID HOLLOW BOX-LIKE RIGID STRUCTURE, SAID SPLIT TUBE HAVING NARROW CIRCUMFERENTIAL SLOTS EACH OF WHICH RUNS INTO A DIFFERENT LARGER OPENING IN THE ADJACENT PORTION OF TH APRON AND FORMS THEREWITH A DIFFERENT KEYHOLE SLOT FOR THE RECEPTION OF A HEADED KEY LOOP, AND A LATCH SPRING CANTI- 